Chicago vs. Bed Bugs

Ah, bed bugs. So many questions, so few answers. Such is the nature of the beast, even for the experts. I think that’s one of the biggest challenges we face: if the experts don’t have all the answers, and if new questions arise every day, then how the heck is everyone else supposed to understand the intricacies and complexities presented by bed bug infestations?

I don’t know, but what I do know is that we need to learn and teach, share good information, make what is understood and known to be true easily accessible and available to everyone.

So, in the spirit of doing just that, I offer you a fantastic synopsis of the (bed bug) state of affairs in America, written by experts Michael Potter, Alvaro Romero, and Kenneth Haynes.  Battling Bed Bugs in the USA was originally presented at the Sixth International Conference on Urban Pests held in Hungary in 2008, and was recently made available to the public, as our friend Renee reported.

The following is a cut-and-paste summary of the paper (emphasis is mine), highlighting some of its most interesting and most important information.  Want to know the truth about bed bugs in America now?  Get a glimpse into the future?  Find out what the answer might be?  Read on, my friends.

The Truth about the Future

The bed bug problem in the United States is expected to worsen with no resolution in sight.

Public awareness is improving, but businesses, municipalities and private citizens must become vigilant in regard to prevention. Hotels are beginning to implement in-house surveillance in order to detect infestations early, but this is more difficult in multi-unit housing, college dormitories, and other establishments where clutter and other constraints make it harder to inspect on a routine basis.

Municipalities have begun debating the responsibilities of property managers and tenants relative to bed bug remediation. Some cities are also considering legislation banning the sale of used and recycled mattresses, and instituting a telephone ‘hotline’ that can be called for removal of infested items before they are scavenged by others.

The Truth about the Present

In an online survey of 509 U.S. pest control firms, 91% encountered bed bugs in the past two years, whereas only 37% recalled seeing them five years ago. Perpetual movement of people, zero tolerance for bug bites, marginally effective management tools, and health concerns about pesticides have created the most difficult pest challenge in a generation. Infestations are occurring in homes, apartments, hotels, dormitories, health care facilities, schools, laundries, movie theaters, and public transportation.

The Truth about Why (We Don’t Know Why)

Various hypotheses have attempted to explain the rapid resurgence of bed bugs in this country which became noticeable in the late-1990s. They include: increased travel to and from areas of the world where the bugs remained common; increased exchange of second-hand furniture and a lack of vigilance by the public; a shift from premise-wide use of broad-spectrum insecticides to more selective control tactics for other urban pests; and insecticide resistance (Doggett et al., 2004; Potter, 2005). While the above factors presumably contributed to the resurgence, it remains a mystery why bed bug populations have increased so quickly after being so scarce for so long.

How are Bed Bugs Harmful?  And to Whom? (Part One)

The hospitality and housing industries are especially apprehensive, fearing adverse publicity and lawsuits. So are colleges and universities who are finding bed bugs in their dormitories. Today’s bed bug infestations raise complex questions about society’s right to know of potentially harmful conditions. Few establishments are willing to admit they have had bed bugs, yet failure to disclose may be used against them in a court of law. The hesitancy to report bed bugs and a lack of public awareness are helping to spread infestations. Notifying tenants or guests of a bed bug problem, however, can be a property manager’s worst nightmare.

How are Bed Bugs Harmful?  And to Whom? (Part Two)

Ignorance and aversion to bed bugs also continues to be present among health care providers (Scarupa, 2006). A few years ago, we had a case where a child was sent home from school because the nurse said she had chicken pox. Two different dermatologists subsequently examined her, one believing she had flea bites and the other, scabies. Neither physician bothered to ask if the family had been traveling or had acquired used furnishings. The family had in fact received two donated beds (both infested with bed bugs) just before the welts started appearing.

Another client informed us that two different caregiver agencies refused to visit her after learning she had bed bugs, fearing they would take bed bugs home with them. Another caregiver agency opted to call a hazardous materials (HAZMAT) unit to deal with a bed bug-bitten man because of concerns over blood-borne pathogens.

How are Bed Bugs Harmful?  And to Whom? (Part Three)

Although bed bugs are not known to transmit human pathogens, infection resulting from bites is a possibility. Health officials in the U.S. have become particularly concerned about methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) outbreaks in healthcare settings, schools, fitness centers, and other communal facilities.

Why Inspection is so Difficult

Correct diagnosis of a bed bug problem is important. Older established infestations are fairly easy to detect; but in the early stages, they can be much more subtle.

One reason bed bug elimination is so challenging is that they can hide almost anywhere. Most aggregations reside near a sleeping host, but as infestations persist, others are found in various locations within several meters of the bed.

Based on our industry survey, the most common areas for finding bed bugs were beds (mentioned by 85% of respondents), bedding (mentioned by 52%), baseboards/carpet edges (37%), furniture such as nightstands and dressers (26%), couches and chairs (25%), walls and ceilings (14%), and clothing (6%).

When inspecting multi-occupancy dwellings such as hotels and apartments, most survey respondents (91%) said they routinely recommend inspecting surrounding units adjacent to infested units. This seems prudent considering other industry surveys have found adjoining units to be infested much of the time (J. Black, pers. comm)

No reliable and affordable detection device is presently available for monitoring bed bugs except keen eyes and a flashlight.

Do Vacuums and Steamers Work?

Routine vacuuming by clients is seldom of much benefit because the bugs hide in places where normal housecleaning efforts do not reach. Targeted vacuuming of infested harborages, however, can be useful if performed properly and limits of the procedure are understood. Bed bugs are not so easily dislodged with vacuums. In comparison to cockroaches, the adults and nymphs cling more tightly to surfaces and the eggs are affixed with a cement-like substance. Better results are achieved by scraping the end of the suction wand repeatedly over the harborage area. Removal becomes difficult if not impossible when the bed bugs are located deep within crevices, and one should assume that some bugs and eggs will be left behind.

Commercial units employed by pest controllers emit small amounts of moisture to lessen the possibility of mold growth, and have a large enough tank to accommodate extended use between fill-ups. Larger brush heads usually work better than small diameter tips which are less efficient and often emit too much pressure, causing bugs and eggs to be blown off the substrate. When using steam, it is important that the bed bugs be exposed to lethal temperatures. The steamer head is moved slowly, and whenever possible, maintained in direct contact with the substrate being treated. A digital infrared thermometer pointed at the area just treated can be used to confirm lethal temperatures (65-85°C) are being achieved. Typical places where steamers are being used include beds, couches and upholstered furniture, baseboards and carpet edges. In combination with, or in lieu of vacuums, they are useful but afford no residual protection against bugs or eggs which may have been missed (Potter et al., 2007).

What About Pesticides?

Most U.S. pest control firms rely on insecticides to control bed bugs.  The most widely used products are pyrethroids which is concerning given the high levels of resistance detected throughout the U.S. (Romero et al., 2007ab). Most indoor uses of organophosphate and carbamate insecticides which often controlled bed bugs with a single treatment are no longer permitted, and there are no highly effective alternatives.

Most pest managers treat wherever bed bugs are found and anywhere they are likely to crawl or hide. For this reason, treatment often takes hours and the amount of insecticide applied is substantial, often exceeding 3.8 liters for a typical apartment. Nearly three-fourths (74%) of companies surveyed said they typically spray beds, and of those that do, 76% spray both the mattress and box spring. Before the resurgence of bed bugs, most pest managers would have shunned treating beds with insecticides. Bed bugs have changed the dynamic and in doing so, increased the likelihood of pesticide-related claims and litigation.

Is There an Answer?

The pest management industry will become more skilled at managing infestations, but people’s intolerance of bed bugs and their bites will pose many challenges. So will the depleted arsenal of effective insecticides and apprehensions about applying pesticides in the very places they are needed. The future of bed bug management could well hinge upon having a residually potent product with a wide margin of safety and similarly permissive label. This was what changed the course of bed bug management more than a half century ago. Without a 21st century version of DDT we may be in for quite a struggle.

The American Apartment Owners Association posted some interesting words of caution to landlords on its blog today, and I thought I’d share some of them with you, Chicagoans.  I think it’s important for all of us to understand just how messy things can get between landlords and tenants when they’re forced to deal with bed bug infestations.

The title of AAOA’s post is “Are You Screening Your New Tenants for Bedbugs?  Landlord Liability Expanding As Bedbugs Continue to Thrive in Apartments,” and it starts off like this:

As these insidious biting creatures find their way from apartment house to apartment house riding in suitcases, furniture and clothing, new avenues of liability for landlords are emerging, including:

• New tenants who bring bedbugs to the building
• Old tenants who bring the problem to the new landlord
• Employees and vendors who bring the nuisance to other apartments, and their own homes

These are some really important issues, and I’m glad to see that the AAOA is addressing them.  I’ve been contacted by countless Chicagoans over the last few months who are or have been involved in frustrating debates with their landlords or with their tenants about which of them is responsible for paying to exterminate bed bug infestations, and to what extent they are responsible.  It’s a tangled web, believe me.

The debates always seem to come down to one question: Who brought bed bugs into the apartment or building in the first place?

I keep hearing the same arguments, over and over again.  Landlords argue that tenants bring bed bugs into buildings, and therefore tenants should be responsible for eliminating bed bugs from buildings.  Tenants argue that they do not bring bed bugs in– or if they do, they don’t know it– and that landlords are responsible for maintaining their buildings, so landlords should be responsible for eliminating bed bugs.

I can see both sides of these arguments, I really can.  They’re both right, you know.  Bed bugs are human parasites; they travel with humans because they rely on our blood to survive.  So bed bugs are, in fact, introduced into buildings by humans.

It’s impossible, though, to figure out how bed bugs got into a building.  The truth is that many people live with bed bugs for months before they discover an infestation, because bed bugs are extremely difficult to detect.  By the time an infestation is discovered, it’s tough to try to determine where they came from: Could it have been a business trip taken last month?  Maybe a friend or relative brought them in?  Or did the bed bug infestation actually originate in a neighbor’s apartment, and travel in through an adjoining wall?

It’s impossible to try to find answers to these questions.  Think about it for a minute.  No one could prove any of the theories mentioned above– the business trip, the visiting relative, the neighbor– no matter how hard they tried.  Do you think you could find out if there were bed bugs in your hotel room during last month’s business trip?  Try calling the hotel and see what they say.  I bet they don’t say “Why yes, we do have a bed bug problem!”.  Or, try asking your relatives if they might have bed bugs.  I bet they don’t say “Why yes, and I brought them to you accidentally!”.  Imagine asking your neighbor if his or her apartment is infested.  I bet you wouldn’t hear “Yes, it is, and if yours is, too, we should work together to get rid of them!”.  You see, it’s impossible to try to figure it out, because even in the most obvious cases, the finger can– and likely will– be pointed in another direction.

In the end, it doesn’t really matter who “brought them in” anyway, does it?  What matters is who’s going to get them out.

And herein lies the problem, because once bed bugs are in, they are incredibly expensive to get out.  We’re talking thousands of dollars, people, many, many thousands of dollars.  As AAOA’s blog says

Once introduced into a unit (via a mattress or other belongings), bedbugs spread as invisibly and effectively as germs throughout the other units and common areas. The cost of subsequent decontamination of your building is significant, not to mention the hassle of subsequent sweeps when remaining eggs hatch.

True.  And the cost– the thousands and thousands of dollars– is what starts the finger-pointing and the debating between landlords and tenants.  The cost is what keeps landlords from helping their tenants at the outset (and, in turn, protecting their buildings from further infestation) and it’s what keeps tenants from making landlords aware of bed bug infestations at the outset (and, in turn, protecting their neighbors from further infestation).

In some places, like San Francisco and Boston, bed bugs are treated just like any other pest– like roaches or ants or mice– so the “who brought them in?” question is irrelevant.

What does the City of Chicago say?  Well, here’s what I’ve found and posted before:

From the City of Chicago Department of Public Health Website’s Bed Bugs: Frequently Asked Questions:

What should tenants do?

If you are a tenant, contact your property manager or landlord to discuss your respective obligations and come to an agreement on a plan to manage the infestation. If there is an infestation, landlords should contract with a licensed pest control operator to manage the problem.

Request a written integrated pest management (IPM) plan from the pest control operator. The plan will include the methods and insecticides to be used, and describe the efforts expected by the building manager as well as by the tenants.

And from chapter 5-12 of the City of Chicago Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance:

The landlord shall maintain the premises in compliance with all applicable provisions of the municipal code and shall promptly make any and all repairs necessary to fulfill this obligation (5-12-070).
In addition to any remedies provided under federal law, a tenant shall have the remedies specified in this section under the circumstances herein set forth. For the purposes of this section, material noncompliance with Section 5-12-070 shall include, but is not limited to, any of the following circumstances (5-12-110):

• failure to exterminate insects, rodents, or pests

It seems pretty clear-cut to me, but then again, my opinion doesn’t count for much.  And landlords, if you don’t like what the City of Chicago has to say about bed bugs (as I wouldn’t if I were you!), you could always join us here at Chicago vs. Bed Bugs.  We are trying to advocate policy to control the spread of bed bug infestations, so our sole purpose is to make our city agencies and legislators aware of the physical and financial hardships that bed bug infestations create for everyone.

In the end, finger-pointing doesn’t solve the problem.  And in reality, landlords, it’s really in your best interest to hire a pest management company that specializes in treating bed bug infestations the very second you think that there might be bed bugs in your building.  You don’t want to put that responsibility in the hands of tenants who might not be able to afford proper treatment anyway, do you?